FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a circuit configuration for controlling torque transmitted between driven wheels of a motor vehicle and a roadway, having a device for wheel-selective slip value detection and for determining a representative wheel slip, a device for specifying a set-point slip, and an engine controller taking a slip status into account.
Such a circuit configuration is used to regulate the engine torque that is transmitted through the drive train of the motor vehicle to the driven wheels. A certain slip is known to be necessary between the wheels and the roadway, so that the drive forces can be best transmitted to the road. If the slip becomes excessive, unstable driving states as well as increased tire wear can result. For example, if the driver of a rear wheel drive vehicle passes a slower vehicle in front of him or her on a long curve leading out of town, and if the street in town is wet but the road outside town is slippery because of temperature and weather conditions, and if to that end he or she steers his or her vehicle to the opposite lane and steps hard on the gas so as to pass quickly, the danger is that the vehicle will spin out and end up on the shoulder.
Therefore, particularly in high-performance motor vehicles, the engine or drive torque transmitted to the roadway through the driven wheels is expediently controlled in such a way that the slip status of the driven wheels is taken into account. One device for controlling the slip of drive wheels of a vehicle with an engine, which is known from European Patent Specification 0 294 634 B1, has a fuel delivery device for the engine, first and second slip detecting devices, a fuel delivery interruption device, a parameter detecting device and a fuel quantity correction device. It distinguishes between an excessive slip status, in which the fuel delivery is interrupted, and a lesser slip status, in which the fuel delivery is corrected as a function of an operating parameter, such as the engine rpm. The requisite expenditure for circuitry and programming is not inconsiderable.